Some people tend to answer the question indirectly while others tend to answer something completely different. It is a good skill for politicians. But for people who want to get things done & create stuff it is better to be surrounded by people who answer the question.
There are different ways people skipping answering the question, sometimes its staying at high level, double speaking or something else.
Either way, it is hard to collaborate with these people. You need multiple rounds of back and forth in order to get the info you need. So always opt in for direct communication and direct communicators.
Some examples on what I mean by not answering.
A: What is your opinion about X?
B: I know the person running X.
A: Did you finish the task?
B: I worked on it yesterday.
A: Why did the bug happen?
B: There were many factors involved.
A: What’s blocking you?
B: The project is quite complex.
Fyi this can be trained. And while someone is not-answering initially they can become someone who answers.